Hanoi (AsiaNews) – Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing, the former leader of the military junta that seized power in a coup in February 2021, concluded a three-day visit to Vietnam yesterday.
Vietnamese political leaders welcomed the general in Hanoi, starting with the Secretary General of the Communist Party and President Tô Lâm, who, after centralising power, has spent the past few months developing diplomatic ties with several countries.
The meeting with Min Aung Hlaing resulted in an agreement to make defence and security a cornerstone in bilateral relations.
The two countries agreed to boost cooperation in military training, exchanges between young officers, search and rescue operations, and natural disaster response.
Expanded information exchange and closer coordination in the fight against transnational crime, drug and human trafficking, cybercrime, and online fraud are also in the works.
The two governments also reaffirmed their commitment to not allow individuals or groups to use the territory of either country to carry out activities against the other.
Regionally, Vietnam and Myanmar agreed to strengthen coordination within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Mekong cooperation mechanisms, while reiterating their support for peace, stability, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea.
For Min Aung Hlaing, who became president in April after elections deemed illegitimate by several international organisations, the trip to Vietnam is also part of a diplomatic offensive to restore the country’s place within ASEAN.
After the 2021 coup, Myanmar was excluded from the organisation's political leadership, which allows only non-political representatives to participate, due to the failure to implement the Five-Point Consensus, the never-implemented peace plan proposed by ASEAN to resolve the Myanmar crisis.
Vietnam is the third country in the regional bloc visited by the general, after Laos and Thailand (Cambodia is expected to be the next), but in recent months, Min Aung Hlaing has also been welcomed in India, China, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
For the general, the goal is twofold: strengthen relations with governments willing to maintain relations with Myanmar and attract foreign investment in an economy profoundly weakened by more than five years of civil war.
Vietnam, on the other hand, views Myanmar as a country that shares with the rest of Southeast Asia transnational security concerns related to drug trafficking and online scam centres.
At the same time, Hanoi intends to maintain an active role within ASEAN to prevent the Myanmar crisis from being managed solely through external pressure.
Faithful to what is called "bamboo diplomacy”, Vietnam avoids presenting its approach as unconditional support for the military junta, partly to protect its own economic interests.
During his meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, Vietnamese Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng praised Myanmar's achievements in running the country under the new presidency and expressed Vietnam's support for initiatives aimed at promoting stability, reconciliation, dialogue, economic development, and improving living conditions.
On 12 July, during the informal meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers with their Myanmar counterpart in Bangkok, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Lê Hoài Trung also called for "concrete and practical" steps, backing the need for direct and regular engagement with Myanmar.
Bilateral trade between the two countries dropped sharply with the start of the civil war. According to data from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it fell from US$ 853 million in 2020 to U$ 590 million in 2025, and stands at US$ 335 million in the first six months of 2026.
During the Myanmar-Vietnam Business Forum held yesterday, Min Aung Hlaing called on Vietnamese companies to increase investment – Vietnam is already one of the most important foreign investors in Myanmar.
According to official Vietnamese data, as of June 2026, there were 107 investment projects with a total registered capital of approximately US$ 1.4 billion.
One of the most important is Mytel, a telecommunications operator set up as a joint venture between Viettel Global Investment, a company linked to the Vietnamese Ministry of Defence, and Myanmar’s military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).
Mytel, which according to Nikkei Asia is now Myanmar's leading telecommunications operator accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the domestic market in 2025, has become a central element of economic relations between the two countries. During his visit, Min Aung Hlaing met with Viettel executives.
It is precisely the link between economic relations and cooperation with the security sector that has drawn the harshest criticism from human rights organisations.
Justice For Myanmar (JFM) slammed Hanoi's decision to welcome Min Aung Hlaing with full honours reserved for a head of state.
This, JFM argues, highlights Hanoi's long-standing economic ties with Myanmar’s military, which risk strengthening the junta's international legitimacy and making Vietnam complicit in the military’s crimes.
Mytel itself is at the centre of multiple accusations. According to a JFM analysis based on confidential financial projections, Myanmar’s military could earn more US$ 700 million in dividends over the next ten years.
The advocacy group also accuses the company of having more than just a commercial function. At least 38 Mytel antennas have been built inside Myanmar military bases, and its data centres have adopted Internet traffic surveillance technology capable of monitoring users.
JFM also identified Vietnamese companies that, according to its investigations, are involved in the supply chain of aviation fuel destined for the junta, as well as companies that allegedly supplied satellite communications equipment to the military.
The organisation calls on Australia, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States to impose sanctions on Vietnamese companies and individuals who, according to its investigations, are helping Myanmar’s military machine.
